iPod Archives - Joe Tech

How To Sell Your Old Video Games Online

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What do you do with your games when you’ve beaten them or you upgrade to a different console? In the past, I’ve found myself making my way up to the game shop to get their trade-in value or sometimes have my older games turned away completely. Then there’s eBay, where I’ve been known to take my chances on it selling at all. But now I’ve found a new way to sell old games. Some ex-eBay employees have harnessed their knowledge about online markets and user experience into Glyde, a site made specifically for buying and selling things like your games.

Sell Old Games Online

Glyde’s selling process is a little different from what I’m used to. To sell your old video games, you just have to start typing in the name of a game, select it when Glyde finds it for you, and click the Sell button. Then you tell Glyde the condition of your game and it will auto-set the market price for you. You can raise or lower the price and then list the item. Although you have to fill out some required information for your first listing, the process is a lot faster and easier than most sites.

To review this site, I figured the best thing to do would be to create an account and start selling. In a test scenario where I might sell the Halo 2 XBOX game in Excellent condition gave me a suggested selling price of $2.25. After the $0.27 transaction fee and $1.25 mailer cost, the total money made from the sale comes out to $0.73. My first thought was that this seems like a pretty low price to let go of my game for. Despite it being an older game, I found it to be a bit low compared to other online shopping sources, as well. I next checked out how much I’d get for Halo Reach, which fell a lot more in line with the average selling price on other sites at $11.51 after fees.

The thing that I found most appealing about the selling process is the shipping procedure. Once someone has purchased your game, Glyde sends you a pre-addressed mailing envelope to ship your game in. All you have to do is pop it back in the mail and you’re done. This is a vast convenience over the way I have to ship things I sell elsewhere, which usually includes a lunch hour wasted at the post office.

Buy and Sell Anything Online

While Glyde may be well-suited for selling old games, you can buy, too, and they don’t stop at just games. I found the iPad, iPhone, Nook, Kindle, and even books. The selling process is pretty similar throughout, but the questions displayed on the selling page are geared towards what you’re selling. When selling an iPhone, for example, you’re asked about if it works and the amount of scratches on it. With a game, you’re asked more generally about the condition of the game.

Buying is pretty straight forward, but the feature that stands out is that Glyde shows you the item that is closest and cheapest for your search. This seems like it would be a no-brainer, but sadly, eBay, Amazon, and Google don’t default to such a listing. In addition, I like that the packaging isn’t suspect to the whim of the seller. You can pretty well expect your item to be delivered in what Glyde deems adequate packaging.

Conclusions

Where Glyde may occasionally fall short in seller earnings on a sale, it doubles up on convenience and ease of use over all. The shipping system stands out in a way that promises to quietly eliminate the usual shipping concerns most buyers and sellers face on other platforms. Personally, I will definitely look to Glyde when it comes time to sell games or some of the books I have sitting around here.

Although the preceding was a sponsored review, as always I strive to provide an honest opinion of the product or site reviewed.

Perfect Reader : The iPhone And iPad PDF Reader

Although the following is a sponsored review, as always I strive to provide an honest opinion of the product reviewed.

One of the advantages of having an iPhone or iPad is the ability to enjoy all forms of media in one device. From videos to photos to ebooks, every base is covered. Apple’s iBooks software did a great job of bringing ebooks to the iPhone and iPad, but apparently, something was missing because FutureMedia Studio built and released an app that they’ve boldly named Perfect Reader. With a name like that, I was anxious to dive in and see just how close to perfect they got.

A PDF Reader App That Works

Before any app can be called a Perfect Reader it should at least provide all the basics I’ve come to expect in any app designed as a book reader. At the very least, I need to be able to load and delete my own files. Done. What about the navigation? Can I thumb through pages or do I need to navigate with interface buttons? Perfect Reader actually has several ways to navigate.

Not only could I thumb through pages, but there were left and right buttons and a slider for faster navigation through long documents. Orientation locking is a must and was included in this app. There’s nothing worse than lying in bed on your side, trying to read and fighting to keep your iPhone from changing the orientation. My last basic requirement is the ability to zoom in and out. This is not as important on an iPad, but it’s necessary when trying to read a book on an iPhone, as is full screen support, which Perfect Reader also delivers. So far, this app has all the basics taken care of, but what about all the bells and whistles?

A Reader With A Lot Of Features

With “Perfect” in your name, you have a lot to live up to. Although I am hesitant to call this reader perfect, it gets pretty close. The vast array of additional features is proof enough that FutureMedia Studio really is trying to deliver the perfect PDF reader for your iDevices.

Among the features I found in this app are:

Folders – Create and manage folders and move your PDFs among them
Easy Importing – Transfer your PDFs into PerfectReader in three ways: Using iTunes, Wifi Transferring and using Open In feature – Open PDFs from other applications such as Safari, DropBox, MobileMe, Box.Net, GoodReader, ReaddleDocs, etc..
Renaming – Rename your documents from within the app
Text-To-Speech – The included Text re-flow engine reads your PDF to you
Search – Search all documents or from within the one you’re reading, including highlighting
Dictionary/Wikipedia – Look up any text without leaving the reader
Encrypted PDF support – I haven’t tried this
PDF Outlines and Hyperlinks – Support for Adobe’s outlines and hyperlinks is built in, which is nice for those huge technical manuals
Bookmarks – Bookmark any page for reading later
Printing – Print to a printer on your network

A full set of screenshots showing many of the features can be found here.

With all these features, Perfect Reader is already worth the purchase price, but it could use just a bit more.

Not Quite Perfect

Loaded with features already, this reader really is perfect… almost. FutureMedia Studio didn’t really leave me a lot of room for complaints. In fact, there was only one existing feature that fell short for me and that’s the text re-flow. It did a decent job of reading the words correctly, but I doubt I could listen to more than a page of it. It’s not ready to replace actual reading for me. The good news is that FutureMedia is promising new text re-flow engine, so we’ll have to wait and see. The navigation was another space I saw room to improve, but only just slightly. The existing navigation is great, but it needs the ability to jump to a specific page number. That feature is invaluable in Adobe’s desktop reader and would be a big bonus here as well.

The last thing on my Perfect Reader wish list (and this is kind of a biggie) is epub support. I’m aware that Perfect Reader is designed as a PDF reader, but if I could have this thing read epub ebooks, too, it would eliminate my ebooks reader. For now, I can always just use ConvertFiles.com to convert my documents to PDF, though.

Conclusions

Perfect? Really, incredibly close. In the world of iPhone apps, the real question is “Is it worth the cost of the app?” If you have a lot of PDFs to read, there’s no doubt about the value of this app. At $3.99, it’s worth every penny. It’s only a couple tweaks away from perfect, as far as I’m concerned. If you’re curious, but not ready to spend a couple bucks, try out the Perfect Reader Mini first, but either way, your iPhone or iPad is incomplete without Perfect Reader.

New iSkin Products Add Functionality

I frequently receive updates about new iSkin products. They’re always introducing new designs and I like almost all of them. They have something for everyone and all the designs tend to look current and fashionable. Of course, this is in addition to the fact that they protect your iPhone, iPod, or other portable electronic device. iSkin has definitely become a recognized name in device skins, so I’m always happy to get my hands on iSkin products to review and give away.

Pictured above is the latest device I’m most excited about (and giving away), but the whole line-up has introduced some new looks. Keep reading to see what iSkin’s been up to.

What’s New?

The most important new product from iSkin, in my opinion, is the Duet for the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 has video conferencing and a crystal clear screen for watching videos and movies. It’s no surprise, then, that companies would start coming out with ways to prop it up for hands-free viewing. Other companies have come up with solutions, some decent and some that are just waiting to fail. What makes the Duet unique is that it includes a belt clip that doubles as a stand. Rather than a full case like most of iSkin’s product line, this is a holster. A bit bulky looking (and perhaps a little bulkier than most of iSkin’s cases, it is a little slimmer than it looks, but it feels pretty sturdy. If you prefer a belt clip, this is a great compliment to your iPhone 4, but if you don’t the belt clip may be a bit much to slide in and out of your pocket. Regardless, the Duet packs in some of the slick style iSkin has become known for.

The people at iSkin have been pretty busy ramping up for the holiday season. In addition to the Duet, they’ve replenished their product line-up with more new offerings for the iPad, iPod Touch 4G, and iPhone 4, including:

– Aura for iPad
– Pebble for iPod Touch 4G
– Touch Duo for iPod Touch 4G
– Solo FX for iPhone 4
– Solo vu for iPhone 4

While I don’t want to go into every detail of each product, I thought I’d share my brief thoughts on each, beginning with the Aura. I’ve posted before about another iPad case, one for which I actually earn on every sale, but this honestly just looks better. The Carbon (black) looks flat and boring next to the Sienna and Bronze Auras, which look corporate take-over fancy. Compared to other iPad cases, these definitely win in looks. The Aura offers three angles to position your iPad for typing, viewing, or reading, but doesn’t appear to offer a portrait mode viewing angle, which may be its only, although notable, shortcoming.

The new Pebble and Touch Duo for the iPod Touch 4G as well as the Solo FX and vu for the iPhone 4 all represent the latest in iSkin’s knack for design with the added belt clip feature the Duo offers. They all look great, especially the Solo vu, which combines elegance with a modern, vibrant look. If I had to choose any of the new products for myself, it would be the Solo vu, hands down.

Win Your Own iSkin

Other than the Aura, I have one of each of the new products to give out to my readers, thanks to iSkin. To win one, all you have to do is comment, tweet, or share. Comment below, telling us why you need an iSkin and what one you like the most for one entry. You can also earn an entry by sharing this post on Twitter or Facebook and commenting below with a link to your tweet or Facebook update. I must be able to find (and read) the tweet or update, so follow or friend me. You can only enter each way once for a maximum of three entries. Entries into this contest will be accepted until January 1, 2011 and I will select winners at random by January 3, 2011.